When we sold our house a number of years ago, it took seven weeks! That's a long time to keep your house extremely neat and tidy, ready for a showing at any time. Well, I hate to break the news, but selling a business can be an even longer wait. If you are thinking about selling, be aware that it can take anywhere from 6-18 months to sell a business, if not longer. Even if you find a buyer almost immediately, the time required for due diligence, financing, and all the potential legal processes alone can take months. And, given the uniqueness of each business, and each business buyer, the time it takes to find the right buyer can be substantial.

As you are waiting, it is essential that you keep running your business as best you can. In fact, anything you can do to keep sales and profits up is even better. Just like we had to keep our house tidy for any potential buyers to drop by, you need to keep the business running in tip-top shape so a buyer can't see a noticeable downtrend in sales or profits.

This is one of the many reasons we encourage people to plan ahead when they want to exit their business. Think in terms of a three to five year time horizon. It may not take that long to sell, but when you look at tax and organizational considerations, you will need the extra time before you go to market, as well as to prepare emotionally. When it does come time to do a deal, the more rushed you feel, the less you will get for your business. If you are just starting to think about your exit, we encourage you to talk to us. There are many things you can do now to improve your business and, ultimately, improve your bottom line.